March/April 2005

Following a decision by Thales to offer its telematics and tracking systems to the consumer as well as business markets, it has received a major order for no fewer than 20,000 telematics units from Performance House Holdings, a company with a network of motorcycle dealerships.

The units will be distributed by Performance House and also through T-Trac (UK), a telematics and tracking specialist - all under the brand name T-Trac.

The units are specifically designed for motorcycles, and will perform two key functions for end users. They will help authorities to track and recover stolen bikes, and they will provide accident reporting in the event of serious incidents.

The system works on a tag-and-reader basis. The tag is carried by the owner/legitimate user and the reader is stored on the bike itself. Any movement of the bike when the tag is not present is flagged up as illegal, and an alert is sent to the police. A built-in GPS receiver calculates the position at the time.

 

The accident detection and reporting facility is based on the fact that the device can measure axial angle and g-Force, and can recognise unusual readings and report details to a central point.

The Thales unit is said to have been one of the first to be certified by Thatcham, the insurers' test organisation, as meeting its "CAT 5" designation.

Thales sees a major market opportunity in the motorcycle sector. It points out that on 26 per cent of stolen motorcycles are recovered, compared with 65 per cent of cars.

Whilst some m.logistics readers are no doubt motorcycle operators, the development also has wider implications, since it reflects the emergence of telematics into the consumer market - a development which should reduce prices and improve availability in the long run.